There are plenty of other forums around that deal specifically with religion, christian, hindu, buddhist etc. There are other forums that deal with science without a religion section. So yea - why bang yr head against a wall here..

I am sure there are no conversions, but I think there is an increased understanding of others point of view i.e. what makes them tick. not necessarily a bad thing for anyone..

Instead of every thread on religion being atheists versus theists whyt don't you just STOP trying to convert everyone to your way of thinking and have threads for your own groups to discuss your own beliefs and the nature of them and how they impact on your lives.

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I don't think that is the purpose of this forum. I'm new here, but exactly what attracted me is the possibility to discuss religion from a more philosophical standpoint.

EVERY thread here rehashes the SAME old crap, I do not for the life of me know why the same people keep posting in reply to the same people, same topic diffrent thread.

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Actually, this debate has been going on for thousands of years.

Has an atheist EVER converted to theism as a result of reading posts here or vice a versa?

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I can't speak for everyone, but I personally don't intend to convert anyone. The point of arguing with someone who disagrees with your points of view is not to convince them you're right, but checking where you could possibly be wrong. And I can't possibly do that if I talk with like-minded people.

thats not possible yes two theists, that I know of, M*W and southstar, both came to their senses here on sciforums.

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So geeser states its not possible for atheists to convert to theism...............so no such thing then as 'new born christians' that's a made up term, oh and weren't we all born atheists? Geeser, don't make statements as if they are fact when you are blatantly wrong.

Spurious, plenty of atheists here frequently try to convert people to their way of thinking, they do it by informing theists they a e 'stupid', 'retard' and all manner of insults oh and then there are the 'arguments' that 'prove' God does not exist, what is this if not attempting to 'sway' (perhaps you feel more comfortable with that term?) the audience in their favour.

Surely rational discussion in an adult mature way between people on important subjects (and I believe a belief in God or otherwise is important) is always worthwhile. Thiis sort of discussion is what freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom or reilgion (or no religion) is all about.

We should count ourselves all lucky or blessed (dependent on theological view) that we can participate in such, without fear of some action being taken against us, as would be likely under repressive regimes, be they religiously based or atheistic.

Statistically the more people who contribute, the more likely people's views may well be swayed or even changed one way or the other. Everyone who reads the forum may not have a totally fixed view and we shall know very little about that if they only read rather than contribute!

It is sad that often people do not read others' views and consider them, but merely contribute a slightly different version of their own personal prejudice.

It is sadder still when people have so little rational argument to contribute that they resort to personal abuse or insult.

As for knowledge and attempting to convert people, there is an argument (clearly not universally agreed) that people are born with a desire of some sort of relationship with God (or gods) but whatever the truth of that, in knowledge terms we are all born agnostic. We have no factual knowledge until we are taught it or learn it for ourselves.

In the modern western world, naturalistic atheistic views of the world are taught and often with the latest paradigm quoted as 'proven scientific fact'. So there is pressure to make people atheists and often to do that in an intellectually dishonest fashion. This is without counting such blatant anti-Christian fictional stories as the 'Da Vinci Code' being blatantly masqueraded as fact.

On the other side of the coin, we know that Islam requires by its own ideology coversion by submission (using force if necessary). On the other hand christianity which does not have such an intrinsic message is used by those who would call themselves 'Christians' as an excuse for all sorts of actions which I am sure Jesus would find totally abhorrent. People often do not follow Christ because of 'Christians' and I would urge people to consider whether that is rational and logical or not.

That said it is clear that the knowledge that many atheists have of Christian belief and doctrine and the contents of the Bible is to put it mildly somewhat thin. This often makes discussion about Christians and Christianity from their side based on a completely inaccurate impression of the true facts.

People are changed by rational discussion and logical consideration. C.S. Lewis became a Christian that way as did a much lesser person - myself!

So let's keep the discussion going but let's not believe that people are stupid or worthy of insult because they espouse any particular position. This is just not so!

Instead of every thread on religion being atheists versus theists whyt don't you just STOP trying to convert everyone to your way of thinking and have threads for your own groups to discuss your own beliefs and the nature of them and how they impact on your lives. EVERY thread here rehashes the SAME old crap, I do not for the life of me know why the same people keep posting in reply to the same people, same topic diffrent thread.

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Technically, this is a science forum and my interpretation is that the topic of religion is intended to be discussed from a science standpoint. As you have correctly noted, that not what happens.

Theoryofrelativity said:

It demonstrates extreme lack of intelligence as clearly those opinionated individuals are not for turning so why not after numerous attempts to convert or educate give it up?

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I have several good reasons:

1) Each argument / collaboration might yield an opportunity to learn more about human behavior.
2) The diversity of thought process provides furtile grounds for testing psychological and sociological hypothesis without participants realizing they're part of an experiment.
3) Knowing the thought process of both 'believers' and 'non-believers' intimately makes it easier to see where the poles are and where the weaknesses / unknowns are.
4) Sometimes people learn things and change their thought processes.
5) This is a public forum and it's content contains a wealth of information that offline viewers can draw from and use in potentially concrete ways.
6) Participation in the forums helps improve a person's debating skills.
7) Sometimes you have an opportinity to develop relationships with some great people.

Theoryofrelativity said:

Question: Has an atheist EVER converted to theism as a result of reading posts here or vice a versa?

It is possible. I was an atheist for over half my life, I converted to theism (albeit pantheism).

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sorry, you may have been non-religious, deist or agnostic, anti-theist, but certainly not atheist.
non-religious does not necessarily mean atheist, atheism is not simple non-religious.
there are some who say they are atheist that dont really understand what an atheist is, (these are usually the religious, trying to make a point.)

sarkus put it this way in regard to someone else, saying the same thing

sarkus said:

Most would argue that you could not have consciously been an atheist and then turn to become a theist.
At best you just didn't know which God you believed in, and were probably apathetic to religion, especially the structured religions.

But an apathetic theist is a long way from being an atheist.

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so you see it is an impossibillity.

Light Travelling said:

So geeser states its not possible for atheists to convert to theism...............so no such thing then as 'new born christians' that's a made up term,

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those are non-religious, who've found again.

Light Travelling said:

oh and weren't we all born atheists? Geeser,

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yes, We are all born atheists til our parents or priests abuse us with the religious mind virus, atheism is the natural way of things we are born without any believe in a god, your the one whos diversified into fantasy.
atheism is individual, atheism is what you are, before religion has taken hold, nobody who has been atheist from birth or rediscovered it/cleared his head, would go back to being religious not without the use of drugs or getting brain damage.

Light Travelling said:

Oh look , an atheist using a theist expression...........happens a lot apparantly

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when the religious aledgedly see the light it's purely imaginary, however when an atheist sees the light it's reality smacking him in the mouth, it's true enlightenment, that's a huge difference.

Now check out these above forums and see how many idiotic religious nut jobs go in there discusing and selling their wares.

As for boards like this one it's open for all comers, so topics seem to look alike often here in religious forum of sci, it's an ongoing debate since the first hallusinating cave men believed in gods, and few saw different.